With A.I. technology now commonplace in households – in the form of Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, it is clear that we are firmly established in a digital age. In the same way that technology is has pervaded our home lives, it too has completely taken over the global business landscape.

Business today exists, operates and grows online. No longer is your website simply your ‘digital shop front’ – it is the activity hub and essence of who you are and what you do. It is the epicentre to which all growth, sales and success is initiated from and comes back to.

Resultantly, the importance that you place on the expansion of your business must be reflected in the time and money you invest into your website and digital marketing if you are to stand any chance of realising your growth aims.

But, where would this time and money be best spent? With a web designer or with a digital marketing agency?

This article will weigh up the pros and cons of each to let you decide which is best for you.

Opting for a web design company

Smaller in size and operation, opting for a web design company or freelance web designer over a larger digital marketing agency certainly can have its benefits for companies: potential for cheaper rates and a more convenient location. Plus, as they specialise in web design specifically, then their experience must be pretty prestigious, right? Well, not always.

Unfortunately the pros of using a freelance web designer or web design agency do not come without cons and by choosing this option over a digital marketing agency, this leaves you open to these.

Where web design companies or freelancers excel in one area – for instance design OR development – they often fall down in others. It is a rarity to find a company of this stature that is proficient in both areas, and, as a result, the skill gaps are often filled with solutions such as generic web templates. This genericity can detract from your company’s USP and success.

Alternatively, these ‘more foreign’ areas can often be outsourced to another contact they have. If this is the case, it’s important to remember that if you have secured a cheap deal on your new web development, then you can bet that your web design company’s out-of-house contact is cheap to!

In the same way, although these smaller teams do indeed strive to deliver a good job, they often rely on the client detailing specifics – which is great if you know exactly what you want. But, these requests often remain unchallenged even if there is a better and more up-to-date solution available. This results from a lack of time to understand and fully research smaller scale projects.

Choosing a Digital Marketing Agency

Like with a web design company, for some, working with a digital marketing agency can be disadvantageous: due to their larger sizes, they are often centrally located within towns and cities and this also normally means that they come with a larger price tag. Nevertheless, it is clear that the extra investment needed to work with a digital marketing agency also brings with it far larger benefits.

For instance, because of their bigger size, they are able to offer all services in-house, thus streamlining and completing the processes more effectively than if aspects were outsourced. This is because larger agencies employ bigger, more rounded creative teams who can quite simply offer more services than a smaller web design company or freelancer. This is great for those who are short of time and in-house skills and would, for example, not have the ability to provide skilled copywriting or high-quality photography for a website.

Another benefit introduced by partnering with a digital agency is that they are able to consider the whole digital ecosystem as opposed to just designing, building and delivering a new website. Not only can extra support, in the form of SEO, PPC, maintenance and social media management, be agreed, but they also have the time, people, experience and technologies to consider your audience, business growth aims and offering right from the start. Ensuring, not only your website performs, but that it also fully integrated within a wider digital and marketing strategy to maximise sales and ROI.

What is right for you?

It is clear that both a digital marketing agency and a web design company or freelancer can be beneficial, but these benefits are certainly weighted. If you are looking for a cheap, short-term, one-off fix or update then a web design agency or freelancer may well work for you. However, you get what you pay for when it comes to website upkeep and, nowadays, being so critical to business, you will certainly notice a big difference in ROI when you invest more in something so crucial. Quite simply, if you cut corners you will cut business.

It is important to note that the purpose of this article is in no way to disrespect more traditional web design companies. After all, Rooster Marketing used to be one!

Most digital agencies were not created as a digital marketing agency, but rather gradually grew into one by slowly employing a skilled team who develop a shared knowledge and passion for the ever changing digital landscape. And that is exactly what we have achieved at Rooster Marketing.

The importance that you place on the expansion of your business must be reflected in the time and money you invest into your website and digital marketing if you are to stand any chance of realising your growth aims.

Rooster Marketing

If, after reading the above, you decide that a fully integrated digital marketing agency is right for you, then Rooster Marketing, based in Winchester, Hampshire, would love to hear about your offering.

As a uniquely creative group of people, we can offer a range of online and offline solutions that are in their very nature scalable, future-proof and easy to use.

Get in touch today, our web design and development whizzes are always eager to help bring your ideas to life.